The shifting of the manual transmission , I find, is lightening fast; the (metal) gate has no effect, for me. Clutch 'smell' ??
There should not be any !! If your egear causes the clutch to 'smell', well you've got a bad robot, lol. Shifting a manual tranny is not something you think about; it's just as natural as breathing; if I had an egear and had to remember to put it into neutral in certain situations to prevent clutch smells etc.; well, who needs it. When they get it totally bullet-proof....maybe. Until that time, it's like cell phones: not perfected yet till there are NO dropped calls !